Attention, danger!
May day, May day!
This is an important message for brethren,
specially if they feel they can become hostile
to each other!
Keep always in mind
the sixth commandment that says:
Thou shall not kill!
Today we invite you to meditate on the unfortunately too many biblical
accounts dealing about hostile brothers. By reading them, have always in mind
that the Bible is like a mirror in front of you and that it reveals your own portrait
and how you look vis-à-vis the ten commandments
of our Father:
"22But be doers of the
word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is
a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural
face in a mirror; 24for he observes himself, goes away, and
immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25But he who looks into
the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer
but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." (James 1: 22-25)
Before going
forward, I would like to address here a solemn warning to the majority among us
and ask us to try all the means available to flee hatress and to learn how to really love, otherwise
we will face the serious risk to flirt with the absurd world of being a killer
or of the initiator of a war. It would
be a sudden cut from the lover of the Bible and its Coming world.
The history
of the first two brothers.
The first
two brothers in history are Cain, the elder one, and Abel, his junior. Let us
read the short account made by the Bible about the life of Abel in Genesis 4,
verses 1 to 8 and by the way, please note that Abel is given to us as an
example through his actions but the Bible did not keep any of his words:
"1 Now Adam knew Eve his
wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man
from Yehoah." 2Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel.
Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3And
in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the
fruit of the ground to Yehoah (Note: he did not offer the first fruits but unspecified
fruits from his harvest). 4Abel
also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And Yehoah
respected Abel and his offering, 5but He did not respect Cain and
his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6So Yehoah said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your
countenance fallen? 7If you do well, will you not be accepted? And
if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you
should rule over it."
8Now Cain talked with Abel, his brother; and it came to pass, when
they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed
him."
Why did Cain
become a killer? Jealousy was the engine that pushed him to commit this murder,
because he was coveting the blessing of his brother! He was the witeness of the
acceptance by Yehoah of Abel's offering and he would have loved to receive at
least the same blessing if not more but he was not ready to make a minimum
effort to improve his behaviour at the eyes of his Creator. Thus before
committing his murder, the first in history, Cain already transgressed the
tenth commandment which says:
"You shall not covet your
neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male
servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that
is your neighbor's." (Exodus 20: 17)
Now, let us
take the place of Cain, how would we have reacted? Where would you have stopped
on the way to the murder? Have also in mind that in this precise case we would
have in front of us Abel, the Righteous! But what if instead of Abel, we would face a man or a woman showing a bad attitude, exciting more our desire of
revenge or jealousy towards him or her.
This is the most
important opportunity to put love above all and to seek ways to help our
neighbour even if we are under the strong impression that his or her
behaviour is extremely unjust. Jealousy should not dominate our behaviour
and overwhelm our person. Jealousy is in this case a powerful source of destruction. Yehoah is
offering anyone a universal remedy and this remedy is absolute: if Cain had
used it, he would not have become the first murderer in the history of mankind.
This remedy is twofold:
·
MOVE IN THE GOOD DIRECTION
·
DOMINATE OVER SIN
Cain was not
able to dominate over his sin, on the contrary, he became slave of the sin that
led him to violate dramatically the sixth commandment that says:
THOU SHALT NOT KILL.
Yehoah,
according to his own rules, could not leave this serious sin unpunished and
read how He decided to punish Cain:
"10And He (Yehoah) said,
"What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me
from the ground. 11So now you are cursed from the earth, which has
opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12When
you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive
and a vagabond you shall be on the earth."
13And Cain said to Yehoah, "My punishment is greater than I can
bear! 14Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the
ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond
on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me."
15And Yehoah said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain,
vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And Yehoah set a mark on Cain,
lest anyone finding him should kill him.
16 Then Cain went out from the presence of Yehoah and dwelt in the
Please, have
always in mind this punishment, as Yehoah will punish us for all our sins in
the same way: what He did to Cain, He will also do to us because " He
regardeth not persons" (Deuteronomy 10:17) and "Elohim is no respecter
of perons" (Acts 10:34)
Ishmael
and Isaac.
Here are two
other brothers whose story is also a valuable source of teachings for the
believers. Ismaël has a visible defect we can discover in Genesis 21,
verses 5 to 9:
"5Now Abraham was one
hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6And Sarah
said, "Elohim has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with
me." 7She also said, "Who would have said to Abraham that
Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age."
Hagar and Ishmael Depart
8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast
on the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to
Abraham, scoffing."
Ishmael is
mocker and makes fun of others! But such an attitude is not according to the
taste of our Creator because it causes at the end the violation of one of the
most important commandment of the Bible. This commandment is given in Leviticus
19: 18:
"18You shall not take
vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but
you shall love your
neighbor as yourself:
I am Yehoah."
Ishmael did
not follow this commandment with respect to the legitimate son and heir to
Abraham and he was the origin of his rejection and that of his mother out of
the camp of the descendants of Abraham, in the desert. The resentment between
those who are still claiming today they are the spiritual descendants of Ishmael and the
descent of Abraham via Isaac and Jacob always exist and even is at the origin
of wars.
Esau
and Jacob.
Here are also
two brothers whose respective defects are at the origin of many misfortunes.
Let us read chapter 27 of the book of Genesis to better understand what we
should not do if we want to avoid a difficult life and to start a process of hate
between human beings that can be prolonged through centuries:
"Jacob Receives Isaac's Blessing
1 Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim
that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him,
"My son."
And he answered him, "Here I am."
2Then he said, "Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of
my death. 3Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and
your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. 4And make me
savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul
may bless you before I die."
5Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And
Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. 6So Rebekah
spoke to Jacob her son, saying, "Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau
your brother, saying, 7"Bring me game and make savory food for
me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of Yehoah before my death.'
8Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you.
9Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the
goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves.
10Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he
may bless you before his death."
11And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Look, Esau my brother
is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. 12Perhaps my father
will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a
curse on myself and not a blessing."
13But his mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son;
only obey my voice, and go, get them for me." 14And he went and
got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such
as his father loved. 15Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her
elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her
younger son. 16And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his
hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17Then she gave the savory
food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18So he went to his father and said, "My father."
And he said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"
19Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn; I have
done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul
may bless me."
20But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it
so quickly, my son?"
And he said, "Because Yehoah your Elohim brought it to me."
21Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come near, that I may feel you,
my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not." 22So Jacob
went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, "The voice is
Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." 23And he
did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands;
so he blessed him.
24Then he said, "Are you really my son Esau?"
He said, "I am."
25He said, "Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's
game, so that my soul may bless you." So he brought it near to him, and he
ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26Then his father Isaac
said to him, "Come near now and kiss me, my son." 27And he
came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed
him and said:
"Surely, the smell of my son
Is like the smell of a field
Which Yehoah has blessed.
28Therefore may Elohim
give you
Of the dew of heaven,
Of the fatness of the earth,
And plenty of grain and wine.
29Let peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brethren,
And let your mother's sons bow down
to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
And blessed be those who bless
you!"
Esau's Lost Hope
30 Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob,
and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that
Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31He also had made savory
food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, "Let my father
arise and eat of his son's game, that your soul may bless me."
32And his father Isaac said to him, "Who are you?"
So he said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau."
33Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, "Who? Where is the
one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and
I have blessed him--and indeed he shall be blessed."
34When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an
exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me--me
also, O my father!"
35But he said, "Your brother came with deceit and has taken
away your blessing."
36And Esau said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has
supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has
taken away my blessing!" And he said, "Have you not reserved a
blessing for me?"
37Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, "Indeed I have made him
your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain
and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?"
38And Esau said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, my
father? Bless me--me also, O my father!" And Esau lifted up his voice and
wept.
39Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:
"Behold, your dwelling shall be
of the fatness of the earth,
And of the dew of heaven from above.
40By your sword you shall
live,
And you shall serve your brother;
And it shall come to pass, when you
become restless,
That you shall break his yoke from
your neck."
Jacob Escapes from Esau
41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father
blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my
father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob."
42And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she
sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, "Surely your
brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. 43Now
therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in
46And Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of
the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like
these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?"
In this
story, the two brothers are to be blamed. On the one hand Jacob took an active
part in the lie conceived by Rebekah to mislead Isaac
and on the other hand Esau was full of hate and jealousy against his brother Jacob. Jacob paid this fault while having to
move away from his family to go and live a servile life at the place of his
cousin Laban.
On the other
hand, Esau spent the rest of his life mostly in bitterness. He tried to please his
parents by marrying a daughter of Ishmael but he could not change the blessing.
And here too, after several centuries, the respective descendants of Esau (also
called Edom) and of Jacob (alias Israel), became important nations who made wars
and hated each others most of the time. Let us read for instance in Numbers 20,
verses 14 to 21:
"Passage Through
14 Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of
18Then Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through my land,
lest I come out against you with the sword."
19So the children of Israel said to him, "We will go by the
Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for
it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more."
20Then he said, "You shall not pass through." So
This hate
continued at the time of the kingdom of Israel.
Joseph
and his brethen.
The story of
Joseph and his brethren is very sad as we are facing a plot linking most of
Jospeh's brethren who were about to kill
him. But at the end, they decided to sell him as a slave. Joseph was the son
preferred by their father. Let us read this painful event in Genesis 37:
"Joseph's Dreams
1 Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in
the
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And
the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives;
and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.
3Now
5Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they
hated him even more. 6So he said to them, "Please hear this
dream which I have dreamed: 7There we were, binding sheaves in the
field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your
sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf."
8And his brothers said to him, "Shall you indeed reign over us?
Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more
for his dreams and for his words.
9Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers,
and said, "Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the
moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me."
10So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father
rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed?
Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth
before you?" 11And his brothers envied him, but his father kept
the matter in mind.
Joseph Sold by His Brothers
12 Then his brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.
13And
So he said to him, "Here I am."
14Then he said to him, "Please go and see if it is well with
your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me." So he
sent him out of the
15Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the
field. And the man asked him, saying, "What are you seeking?"
16So he said, "I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where
they are feeding their flocks."
17And the man said, "They have departed from here, for I heard
them say, "Let us go to
18Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them,
they conspired against him to kill him. 19Then they said to one
another, "Look, this dreamer is coming! 20Come therefore, let
us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, "Some wild
beast has devoured him.' We shall see what will become of his dreams!"
21But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and
said, "Let us not kill him." 22And Reuben said to them,
"Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and
do not lay a hand on him"--that he might deliver him out of their hands,
and bring him back to his father.
23So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that
they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.
24Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty;
there was no water in it.
25And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and
looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from
29Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the
pit; and he tore his clothes. 30And he returned to his brothers and
said, "The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?"
31So they took Joseph's tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped
the tunic in the blood. 32Then they sent the tunic of many colors,
and they brought it to their father and said, "We have found this. Do you
know whether it is your son's tunic or not?"
33And he recognized it and said, "It is my son's tunic. A wild
beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces." 34Then
Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son
many days. 35And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort
him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, "For I shall go down
into the grave to my son in mourning." Thus his father wept for him.
36Now the Midianites had sold him in
Now that you
have read this story, come back to yourselves and examine your thoughts. Joseph
is preferred over all his brethren by Jacob, this is a strong reason to
generate jealousy from his brothers although Joseph is not the direct cause of it
but rather Jacob's behaviour.
Moreover, dreams
given to Joseph by Yehoah will further increase the jealousy of the brethren because these dreams are
revealing Joseph's brilliant future as saviour of all his family! The jealousy
became hate against Joseph and the next event was the last drop for its
explosion.
Indeed Joseph
was sent by Jacob to supervise his brothers and report about their bad
behaviour.
The brethren
did not follow the teaching given by Yehoah in the beginning to Cain, teaching
that were part of their education. And instead of looking at themselves as they
really are using the perfect mirror provided by the Bible, they prefer to see a
mirage: a rotten Joseph that it would to delete from
their memory.
And
what about us!
We should
seriously learn these lessons as too often, we behave like the brethren of
Joseph. Each time we think badly about our family or our neighbours or when we
openly and publicly criticize people, we
follow the route of Cain, of Ishmail, of Edom or of the brethren of Joseph. We
are acting as if we would them to disappear from our thoughts or to die in our mind.
Jesus Christ
shows us clearly that such behaviour is a violation of the sixth commandment. Yehoah
asks us as He asked Cain to dominate over the sin and to not become a slave of
it. In other words, Yehoah asks us to stay free!
If we want
to be part of the believers today and of the people who will be born in the
Kingdom to come of our Father and Creator tomorrow, then the sixth commandment
must be a living part of our body. This commandment is a safeguard for any Life
on earth.
Jesus, when
he was on earth two thousand years ago, tried to show His people and us the
value of this commandment. This commandment means much more that not to kill!
Indeed, this is what our Saviour says in Matthew 5, verses 21 to 26
"21 "You have heard
that it was said to those of old, "You shall not murder, and
whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' 22But I say to
you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in
danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, "Raca!' shall be
in danger of the council. But whoever says, "You fool!' shall be in
danger of hell fire. 23Therefore if you bring your gift to the
altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave
your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your
brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25Agree with your
adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary
deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be
thrown into prison. 26Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means
get out of there till you have paid the last penny."
Our Saviour
teaches us such behaviour because he wants to offer His Father people full of strength, able to create and also intended for eternity! And
you should know what makes the strength of people intended to become a leader. Strength
is growing when there is no selfishness and when consequently all the thoughts
are turned towards the welfare of neighbours and the nation. Many nations who
took leadership in the world are examples of such a behaviour but too often,
they did not believe deeply in Elohim. This lack of belief in Elohim explains why
they could not persist in the past and why they will not persist in the future.
Indeed unions between people and nations, even if it becomes extremely
powerful,like USSR or the US or the European Union will weaken as soon as, at a
given time, it makes a shift and wanders from the way given by the obedience to
the natural commandments of our Creator. Such unions are expected to decline and disintegrate
as written in Daniel's prophecy, chapter
2, verses 26 until 45:
"26The king answered and
said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known
to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?"
27Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, "The
secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the
magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. 28But
there is a Elohim in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King
Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of
your head upon your bed, were these: 29As for you, O king, thoughts
came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this;
and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. 30But
as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom
than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the
king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.
31"You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This
great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was
awesome. 32This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of
silver, its belly and thighsof bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet
partly of iron and partly of clay. 34You watched while a stone was
cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and
broke them in pieces. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the
silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the
summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them
was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and
filled the whole earth.
36"This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it
before the king. 37You, O king, are a king of kings. For the Elohim of
heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; 38and
wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of
the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them
all--you are this head of gold. 39But after you shall arise another
kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall
rule over all the earth. 40And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong
as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like
iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
41Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly
of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in
it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42And as the
toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall
be partly strong and partly fragile. 43As you saw iron mixed with
ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not
adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44And
in the days of these kings the Elohim of heaven will set up a kingdom which
shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other
people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand forever. 45Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was
cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron,
the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold--the great Elohim has made known to
the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its
interpretation is sure."
The future
nation of believers must undertake the process to build a perfect union between
them that will be very well articulated to offer a maximum of freedom to each
member. To become an active member of this eternal union, we must start with
little steps: build first a very good relationship with the family and our brethren
that must become a kind of miniature of the kingdom of our Creator. For
instance, if one member of the family is blind and the other one is a lame,
they do not have any reason to be jealous of each other but on the
contrary, they must help eachother, the lame one guiding the blind and the
blind supporting the step of the lame one!
In the eyes
of our Father, we all are like lames or blinds, but most often we do not yet realize
that and it might be too late when we will see ourselves as we are in the
mirror of the Bible: we will understand the number of crimes we have committed!
Let us act
now and rather than to see and envy the others and to spend our time finding
reasons to justify our criminal acts against our next, let us seek to help and
compensate for our respective weaknesses. Let us aim at the perfection. Please learn how to bear with
your neighbour whatever his defects are. This is the message of Paul in his
epistle to the Romans, chapter 15, verses 1 to 7:
1 We then who are strong ought to bear with the
scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2Let each of us
please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. 3For even
Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches of
those who reproached You fell on Me."[ 4For whatever
things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the
patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 5Now may the
Elohim of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another,
according to Christ Jesus, 6that you may with one mind and one mouth
glorify the Elohim and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us,
To the glory of Elohim.